Detachable leg for tables



(No Model.) S B SIGLER.

DBTAGHABLBLEG PoR TABLES.

No. 556,869. Patented Mar. 24, 1896.

WITNESS UNITED STATES FFICE.

PATENT DETACHABLE LEG Fon TABLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,869, dated March 24, 1896.

Application filed September 30, 1895. Serial No. 564,111. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL B. Sienne., a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Martinsburg, in the county of Berkeley, in the State of West Virginia, have invented certa-in new and useful Improvements in Detachable Legs for Tables and for other Similar Articles of Furniture, of which the following is a correct description.

The invention relates to improvements in articles of furniture,embracing tables,stands, secretaries, and the like7 in which the body or top of the article is supported upon legs or standards which extend downward from4 the corners of an angular frame; and the object of the invention is to connect the supportin glegs to the frame in such a manner that when it is desired to pack the article within a small space for convenience in handling the same, and to reduce, so far as' possible, the cost of transportation thereof, the legs may be quickly detached from the frame and the whole assembled within a greatly-diminished space. To insure the accomplishment of this object I have provided an angular connecting-bar which, at each corner of the frame of the article, extends diagonally across the angle thereof, and is, by each of its extremities, rigidly secured to the two adjacent parts of such frame. The attachment of the series of connecting-bars to the side and end members of the frame binds such bars and members firmly together to resist outward strain, as well as inward pressure, and produces an interval or open rectangular space at each corner of the frame for insertion and subsequent attachment of the legs. To edect such attachment the inner corner of the legis chamfered or beveled, so as to present a. surface which is parallel to the general plane of the diagonally extending connecting bar 5 a plate which has parallel outwardly-projecting vertically-arranged lugs which receive a pivotpin is rigidly secured to such beveled or chamfered portion of the leg; a lug which has a suitable perforation or a slot or notch is affixed to or is provided in the diagonal connecting bar or brace, and an arm, the outer extremity of which is screw-threaded to receive a suitable thumb-nut, and the inner extremity of which is received upon the pivotpin of the plate upon the leg, acts in conjunction with the connecting bar or brace to hold the body of the leg in close and immovable Contact with the adjacent parts of the frame.

The invention consists essentially in the provision, in a table or like article of furniture, of side and end rails which are cut short at the corners of the frame, which are connected by a diagonally-extending bar which 6o is secured to such rails, and which upon its longer side has a central bearing lug or stop, anda leg which is adapted to the angular space at the end of the rails, and which has upon its inner surface or corner a looselymounted holding-arm which is detachablyengageable with the lug or stop upon the diagonally-extendin g connectingbar.

The invention consists also in various novel parts or combinations of parts in a table or 7o the like, will iirst be particularly described, and then specifically and distinctly claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which con stitute a part of this specification, Figure l represents a vertical section, as in a line eX- tending from the outer corner of a leg through the center of the same and through the center of the diagonal bar and of the threaded connecting-arm. Fig. 2 represents a horizontal section, as in the line of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is 8o a detail side elevation, partly in vertical section, showing a modiiication in the form of the opening in the lug upon the diagonal connecting-bar- Fig. at is a detail further representing a modified form of construction of .S5

the holding-lug upon the connecting-bar.

The dimensions of the table, secretary, or other article having been previously determined, the bearing-railsff?, ctc.. of the frame of the same will be arranged at suitable in- 9o tervals and secured in position by means of the connecting-bars @,the ilattened ends c2 of which are made fast to the rails by means of screws c3. Upon the chamfered inner corner l2 of the leg .l is xed the holding-plate or 95 pivot-plate p, which has the two parallel outwardly-projecting lugs P2132, in which is recei ved the horizontal pivot-pin pi', upon which, by its eye he, is loosely received the holdingarm 7L, the opposite extremity lz? of which is Ico threaded to receive the thumb-nut n, which, when the holding-arm is in its operative posit-ion, engages the outer or under surface of the perforated or slotted projecting lug or stop c4 upon the central portion of the connectingbar c.

As already stated, the leg l is, in its upper portion, adapted to exactly iit the interval between the ends of the rails ffz, and it will be understood that this upper portion of the leg may be made either wholly plain and unrecessed, as seen at one side in Fig. 9, or provided with a groove g to receive a corresponding reduced or shoulder-like end s upon the frame.

It will be noted that by reason of the provision of the elongated eye he in the arm 7L it is practicable to withdraw such arm from the perforation c5 in the lug c4, and that the bifurcation of the lug providing the two bearings c* c6, as in Figs. 3 and et, permits in a different manner, but with even greater facility and celerity., like disengagement of the holding-arni. Under either form of construction upon such disengagement of the holdingarm withdrawal of the leg from its seat upon the under surface of the table-top t may be instantly, effected, for it will be noted that the projection of the threaded end of the holding-arm beyond its opening in the lug c4 is so slight that upon two or three reverse movements of the nut a it will have become detached, so that the arm, by reason 0f the provision of its oblong opening, as in Fig. l, is instantly withdrawable from the lug to per mit removal of the leg from its place in the frame; and it will further be noted that under the construction seen in Figs. 3 and 4 a single backward turn of the nut will, without detachment of the same from its place upon the arm, effect disengagement and permit upward movement of the end of the arm from its place between the parallel bearinglugs c c,

In devising the fastening appliances above described I have sought to preserve the integrity of the leg, and it will be perceived that the holding devices are mounted wholly upon the exterior thereof, thereby effecting much economy of time and labor, while avoiding the mutilation and weakening of the leg which result from boring holes and cutting slots in the same, as in some former constructions. It will be understood, therefore, that the use of interior fastenings of any kind, as well as of an angle-plate which is secured by bolts or by screws both to the body of the leg and to the top of the table, is not only entirely foreign to my purpose, but is inapplicable to my construction.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed isl. In a table or like article of furniture, the combination of adjacent rails which abut a corner leg-space; a diagonally-extending con necting-bar which at its ends extends along and is rigidly secured to such rails, and which at its mid-length has an inwardly-projecting lug or step; and an insertible leg which is adapted to the space between the adjacent rails, which is chamfered or cut away at its inner corner, and which is provided upon its chamfered surface with a pivotally-mounted holdin g-arm which detachably engages the p lug upon the connectingbar, and is withdrawable rearwardly or upwardly from its engagement with such lug.

2. The combination with the leg Z, having chamfered corner 22,/pivot-plate p, secured upon such corner, provided with lugs p2, p2. pivot-pin p3,terminally-threaded holding-arm h, an d thumb-nut n; of the rails f,f2, received, by their ends or tenons .sin the body of the leg, and rigidly connected by obliquely-extending bar c, which at its ends extends along the rails and is secured thereto, and which is provided upon the side most remote from thc leg with an open lug c4, which is engageablc by the pivotally-mounted holding-arm; substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

SAMUEL B. SIGLER. lVitnesses:

WM. H. WILEN, L. DE lV. GERHARDT. 

